What we know so far:

 

2h ago

05.46 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/mar/18/israel-gaza-live-blog-updates-air-strikes-strip-netanyahu-hamas?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-67d9118d8f081e69d8147214#block-67d9118d8f081e69d8147214

 

What we know so far:

Hello and thank you for following our live coverage of events in the Middle East.

 

• Early on Tuesday Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza strip, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.
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• The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
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• Tuesday’s strikes have resulted in a heavy death toll, with Gaza’s health ministry saying that more than 200 people have been killed, many of whom were women and children.
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• Here is a brief recap of everything you need to know.
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• Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. He accused Hamas of “repeated refusal to release our hostages” and rejecting proposals from US President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” it said in a statement. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand.
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• Hamas warned that Israel’s new airstrikes breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy. A senior Hamas official said Netanyahu’s decision to launch widespread strikes on the Gaza strip amounted to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages held there. In a statement early on Tuesday, Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, accused Netanyahu of resuming the war to try and save his far-right governing coalition.
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• Strikes were reported in multiple locations, including northern Gaza, Gaza City and the Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah in central and southern Gaza Strip.
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• Israel’s ambassador to UN has vowed that strikes would continue, saying that: “Nothing will stop us from fighting to free our hostages who have been held in brutal Hamas captivity for 527 days. We will show no mercy against our enemies while our hostages languish in Hamas terror tunnels.”
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• The Israeli military has also said the strikes would continue as long as necessary and could extend beyond airstrikes, raising the prospect that Israeli ground troops could resume fighting, according to Reuters.
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• Tuesday’s attacks have been far wider in scale than the regular series of drone strikes the Israeli military has said it has conducted against individuals or small groups of suspected militants and follows weeks of failed efforts to agree an extension to the truce agreed on January 19.
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• The White House has confirmed it was briefed in advance about Israel’s attack on Gaza, with spokesperson Karoline Leavitt quoted by US media as saying that those who seek to terrorise Israel and the US “will see a price to pay”. “Hamas could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war,” White House spokesperson Brian Hughes said.
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• The return to fighting could worsen deep internal fissures inside Israel over the fate of the remaining hostages, Associated Press reports. Many of the hostages released by Hamas returned emaciated and malnourished, putting heavy pressure on the government to extend the ceasefire.